Williams had some significant grad losses. The National player of the year (center back) and about a dozen goals in a pair of Mid/forwards. But they return their leading scorer and about 40 goals in total.

Chicago lost the most in midfield/playmaker. More the 60 goals return from last year and only one significant loss on a really stingy defense.

TCNJ lost nearly 50% of its offense to graduation. Their defense remains relatively unchanged. But 40 goals is a lot to replace.

Hardin Simmons returns an individual nearly-40 goal scorer and nearly 80% of a high scoring offense. But they took a major hit in the back losing 3 defenders and a defensive mid that only gave up 8 goals on the year and played in nearly every game.

Messiah has a very balanced and minimal grad loss. They lose two defenders who played in every game, and less than 10% of their scoring. With a strong program in place for years now, Iím certain they got a bevy of undergrads ready to plug those minor holes.

Hopkins is second only to Messiah (whom they played to a draw last year early) in suffering the fewest losses of the top 6. They return their leading scorer as a 5th year bonus and their #2 scorer was only a freshman last season. In all they get back 90% of their scoring and lose two defenders.

How about the decline of the Thomas More program since Cummings left. They may win 2 games this year compared to all those sweet 16 visits just a few years ago. Very sad!

To be fair, didn't Thomas More have some pretty good players on those teams? I'm not familiar with the team or the roster now but are the players at the same level? Also, having the one-and-done coach that is now an assistant at Miami didn't help the program. It takes awhile for a program to recover from that. Since she was only there a season her heart was probably never into it and she more than likely didn't recruit hard or do much to help things otherwise. She did the program no favors.

Doesn't Thomas More want to move to D2 or NAIA? If so, the program has some work in front of it. I'm not suggesting that D2 or NAIA teams are superior to D3 teams because a lot of D3 teams can beat D2 & NAIA teams in women's soccer. Also, from an academic standpoint, most D3 schools are superior to D2 and NAIA schools. The move will just make things "different" for the coach from a recruiting and administrative perspective. In some aspects it's easier to recruit to D2 and NAIA schools because there is usually some athletic aid available but on the other hand it can be easier to recruit to D3 schools due to the superior academics and often more available merit aid. I tend to think that in general the D3 schools are getting the better student-athletes.

Okay Saint83, what has happened to the Thomas More program. I saw the score of their Centre game last night 5-0 and they were out shot 30-1. Have players transferred out since the coach who took them to the NCAA resigned? It looks like they have a second new coach since the coach who took them to the NCAAs left. Have they been unable to bring in new players with all the changes in coaches and the uncertainty of conference and leaving to go to the NAIA?

Coach Cummings built a very strong program over the years and he did leave after his best overall class graduated after the 2016 season. His predecessor was not well liked by the team and quite a few starters, either quit the team or transferred out. She brought in a 14-15 recruits for this years team before she left, but very few contribute much. TMC will be switching their name to Thomas More University and they will be playing in NAIA next year competing in the Mid-South conference. Just sad to see a perennial top 10 team for many years be reduced to being outshot 30-1 and more than likely winning only 2-3 games.

Coach Cummings built a very strong program over the years and he did leave after his best overall class graduated after the 2016 season. His predecessor was not well liked by the team and quite a few starters, either quit the team or transferred out. She brought in a 14-15 recruits for this years team before she left, but very few contribute much. TMC will be switching their name to Thomas More University and they will be playing in NAIA next year competing in the Mid-South conference. Just sad to see a perennial top 10 team for many years be reduced to being outshot 30-1 and more than likely winning only 2-3 games.

It will be interesting to see what the move to NAIA does at Thomas More from a recruiting standpoint. Fairly or unfairly, NAIA schools are generally considered to be inferior to D3 schools academically. Most would probably even consider them to be inferior to D2 schools. I personally believe that the perception is fair. There are some decent NAIA schools for academics but not many. The type of student-athlete that Thomas More brings in will be different. As I previously stated I also feel like many of those attending D3 schools are superior athletically as well. Most top D3 women's teams would crush many of the NAIA and D2 programs in women's soccer.

It is going to be an interesting journey for Thomas More and some growing pains should be expected.

One thing Thomas More has going for it that has always attracted top talent is their outstanding Nursing program. Local hospitals are knocking at the TMC door looking for graduates. The 2016 Sweet 16 team had 6 starters in the Nursing program, with the right coach the program should always be competitive!